Like the legend of the phoenix ...

As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently went on holiday for a few days in Paris. Although I didn't have that long there, I did manage to squeeze in a trip to City Pharma in St. Germain on the last day, and stocked up on the necessary bits and bobs of French skincare. I always forget just how much cheaper it is over there and how much choice there is. I only picked up a few bits this time as I'm hoping to take another trip to Pari towards the end of the year when I can pick some more things up after I've done some more research into what's really suited for my skin, as well as seeing whether what I got this time works for me or not. For the record, I have normal/combination skin (although it gets oilier in the warmer months) but dehydrated, so it tends to soak up all my makeup, giving me the ever attractive look of dry and oily skin at the same time.

Left to right: Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentre, Avene Eau Thermale Spray, Bioderma Solution Micellaire, Vichy Purete Thermale Toner, La Roche-Posay Cicaplast.

The Vichy toner is one I've seen recommended by Caroline Hirons, and is supposed to help pump moisture back into the skin after using an exfoliating toner. Of course, I couldn't go to Paris without picking up the classic double bottle of Bioderma, which I love using to take of the first layer of my makeup and I then go in with a balm cleanser. La Roche-Posay Cicaplast is supposed to help with skin healing/renewal as well as with dry/chapped skin, which I've been having around my nose in particular. 

The Lait-Creme Concentre is supposed to be excellent for moisturising under makeup. I know that the Pixiwoo girls use it and I'm hardly going to argue with their choice of products. Although this is supposed to be quite rich, and might therefore be a bit rich for my occasionally oil prone skin, I'm hoping that it'll help with the hydration problems and therefore let my makeup sit better on my skin. The Avene Eau Thermale is a lovely cooling spray which is also supposed to be great for hydration (another Caroline mention). I'm really looking forward to taking this one to Italy next month as it can get so hot there (I'm talking 40 degrees at midday) and running around waitressing can get very hot, so it's lovely to have something that cools off my face.